Improving the Regranting Experience

The expression “stuck between a rock and a hard place” doesn’t exactly conjure up enjoyable images. So imagine spending the majority of your work day in this unfortunate location.

For some foundations and nonprofits, there is a clear distinction between the roles of grantmaker and grantseeker. To them, they are two different organizations on opposite ends of the granting process, and while their jobs and missions may be closely intertwined, their focus, needs, and wants may be in contrast.

Yet many other grant professionals exist in a unique and often challenging place: both roles. Many of WiseHive’s clients -- namely state governments and regional offices of large charities -- play both the grantseeker and the grantmaker at different points in the process. They may solicit funds from federal or foundation resources, but then turn around and distribute those funds to local, smaller organizations, departments, or even individuals.

With different stakeholders, different rules, and dozens of other disconnects, how do these regrantors not only survive, but thrive in their roles?

The distinct perspective of a regrantor

Program managers who work as regrantors are positioned in a unique part of the process and as such have the ability to see in both directions.

Their experience as grantseekers -- researching grant opportunities, developing plans and budgets, and going through the application process -- ultimately makes them better grantmakers as they understand what it’s like to be put through the often rigorous process of submission. And their experience as grantmakers -- deciding what information best qualifies a grant application, managing the process, working with reviewers, and collecting data from grantees -- makes them more conscientious and thoughtful grantseekers.

Yet this is where the rock and hard place appear all too often. Despite their knowledge and experience -- or perhaps even because of it -- these individuals often find themselves frustrated. They know the processes they are experiencing on either end could be better, but may not have the ability to change them. And even if they could, their intentions are often thwarted by the amazing amount of work both these roles can consume. 

A streamlined process on either end would be a great start to improving the workloads of these important grant players. One that goes end to end could be a life saver.

Grants management software for regrantors

Grants management software can do dramatic things for grantmakers, particularly those who are also bogged down with the work of being a grantseeker. A cloud-based platform that allows for the easy collection of applications, effortless administration of the program, automatic assignment of reviewers, easy scoring of all reviews, and integrated reporting of awards and their impact could save hundreds of hours, not to mention stress.

But what many organizations that also seek grants don’t realize is the potential opportunity such a system can hold on the grantseeking side. 

With a robust database platform, you can collect, track, organize, or report on virtually any information you want. This easily includes the data you may use to prioritize programs that need funding, to determine which grants to apply for, or to begin work on the applications themselves. It also could include data about grants you have received, like payment dates, disbursement amounts, or how funds were used.

Better grantseeking metrics

It’s easy to agree that better data is going to make for a better grantseeking process, but how exactly could this play out?

Take the example of one of WizeHive’s clients, who turned to our grants management platform to better organize their internal needs so they could, in turn, submit the strongest grant applications possible. This foundation currently uses the system to collect project and funding requests from their various departments; requests are entered into the system using an online web form and the data is then sorted and stored within the database. Foundation staffers can easily track areas with the most need, pull quotes or statistics for more meaningful applications, and track submissions made against each incoming request. The result is not only better grantseeking, but a connected organization that can illustrate the effort going into forwarding each initiative and the foundation’s mission as a whole.

While that approach improves the pre-application workflow, other organizations use the platform to manage data after being named a grantee. One of our clients works with a large number of federally mandated grants, most of which require detailed progress reporting to maintain. As these grants are received, the organization’s team members create records for each in the platform as a centralized destination for all grant-related data. Disbursements, purchases, and funds regranted related to the initial grant can be imported from their accounting system or entered manually, allowing the staff to see a holistic view of the grant’s lifespan and resulting impact and perform much easier progress reporting back to the original grant source.

Stronger grants management from any vantage point

These creative and smart ways to use an application management platform and database for the grantseeking side of things complement nicely the advantages of such a system for grantmaking. With a well executed grant management program organizations can also create stronger, more user-friendly applications, help applicants through to the submit stage, manage reviewers, and harness all of the data that results. 

When these approaches are combined, the result is a start-to-finish system that not only organizes, but simplifies and streamlines all the data related to an organization’s grant program. Real, valuable information can travel through the lifecycle from start to finish, and vastly improve the quality of all reporting, thus improving the work done in the future and the benefits to the communities you serve.

WizeHive believes that teams that manage twice the work shouldn’t have to do twice the work. Our Zengine platform is a flexible database that allows you to manage the tasks and information important to your organization all in one place. 

To learn more about how WizeHive’s Zengine platform could help you at any stage of the grants management lifecycle, visit our website.